


He watches the sun, he watches the moon

by transcoranic



Series: Shiromatt week [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Day 5, M/M, ShiroMatt Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transcoranic/pseuds/transcoranic
Summary: It's a long way to Kerberos





	

Shiro stared at Earth through the observation dome. Suspended in the center of the ship, he floated, drifting aimlessly. He was rushing away from the planet at hundreds of kilometers per hour, but it barely appeared smaller. He could still see the swirls of clouds and the blue of the oceans, for now. In a few days, it would be lost to the blackness of space. 

He turned toward the sun. It, too, was rushing away. Even after months of training and weeks in the space station, he still hadn’t gotten used to seeing the sun and stars at the same time. It was beautiful, but the window had polarized to protect him from radiation, dimming the stars in the sun’s black corona. 

***

Matt watched the moon. The path of the ship granted him a view of the far side, cratered far more than its earth-facing counterpart. This was, in the end, a journey between two moons. Earth and Luna on one end, Kerberos the other. In his pocket, Matt had a moon rock and a rock that he’d picked up at the Garrison. They clicked against each other. If he left them in his pocket long enough, they would grind into dust, make one whole.

***

The sun was small from Jupiter. The light it cast was still blinding. They’d been traveling for two months, fleeing the radiation, fleeing the light. Now the gas giant loomed in the sky and the sun was eclipsed by Jupiter’s moons. It winked out entirely as the ship passed over the red spot, hurtling toward the brief rendezvous with Jupiter station before the gravity slingshot sent them out toward the edge of the solar system. When the sun came into view again, they were already moving away again, with a fresh boost of kinetic energy and a fresh load of freeze-dried peas.

***

Jupiter was a planet with too many moons, Matt reflected. There were big ones, like Europa on the horizon, but most of them (thousands of them) were basically glorified asteroids. He rubbed the rocks in his pocket. The constant rubbing and motion had already worn some of the sharper edges smooth. They were pieces of Earth, pieces of history. He should probably try to get a piece of Jupiter’s moons, too. Maybe a micrometeorite off Europa? He never did.

***

From Kerberos, the sun isn’t much bigger than the other stars. Its light is still blinding. When he wasn’t setting up drills, taking samples, driving the rover, helping Commander Holt with routine maintenance, or any of the other million tasks that an astronaut performs on a daily basis, Shiro liked to stare at it and think about how far he’d come. Here they were, the farthest away from the sun that humans had ever been. That must mean something. Apparently, what it meant was ice. Lots of ice. That didn’t bother Shiro; he knew what he had signed up for.

***

They’d made it. Five months, 3.8 billion miles, all to reach this little moon at the edge of the solar system. Matt couldn’t contain his excitement most days. They’d spent about a week running tests on surface ice and setting up drills all over the moon’s surface. It was good, hard work. As they drove in the rover toward the first drill sites, Matt put his hand over the pocket where he kept his rocks. A micrometeorite had subtly joined the two from Earth, representing the distance he had traveled. They would be bringing back thousands of samples, but this rock would be his. Maybe he would give it to Katie when he got back.

***

The worst thing about Galra captivity was the darkness. Everything was either pitch black or illuminated by weird purple strips along the floor. He hadn’t seen the sun in weeks. He wasn’t even sure he’d be able to find it in the sky if he could see out, he had no idea where they were or what was happening. For all Shiro knew, they’d been moving close enough to light speed that ‘a few weeks’ was centuries on Earth. Today he sat against the wall, watching Matt as he stared into his palm. 

Shiro slid his body closer to Matt’s. When he got close enough, he saw that Matt was holding three rocks, not moving or playing them, just staring. “What are those?” he asked.

Matt started. “I brought them with me on the mission; they were to remind me about home.” He chuckled, dryly. “I guess that’s what they’re doing, isn’t it?” The two stared at the rocks, silent for a moment, “What do you miss most about Earth?”

Shiro thought, “I miss the sun. I miss looking up into blue sky and seeing it and having to squint because it was so bright. What about you?”

“I miss the moon, mostly.”

“You know, it’s not really the sun I miss, it’s the warmth and the light.”

The two were already almost touching. Matt scooted so that they were, legs pressed together, warm hips, Matt’s head resting on Shiro’s shoulder. “Better?”

It was better. Matt was warm and the pressure of his body against Shiro’s was comfortable. It almost felt safe, like they weren’t prisoners on an alien ship out in the middle of nowhere. He moved, about to kiss Matt’s forehead, but he stopped. “Can I—is it okay if I kiss you?”

“Takashi Shirogane, I thought you’d never ask.” They both laughed. It took some contortion to comfortably press their lips together. When they did, Shiro wanted it to never end. They were both dirty, bruised, exhausted, but in that moment everything was perfect. It seemed to last forever before Shiro noticed the burning in his lungs. He broke away and took a deep breath, then came back, passionate and ready to drown himself in Matt again and again and again.

When it was over, they curled together, huddled for warmth. Shiro laid one last kiss on Matt’s forehead. “You’re much better than the sun.”

**Author's Note:**

> I barely made the time limit, so please excuse the fact that I took some liberties with science. Also, while I did my best to fit canon, the physics really don't work, so I did my best. They're going really fast, okay?


End file.
